Unlike my cousin Kelley, I AM into politics and I am certainly not afraid to tell you what I think. That being said, leave whatever comment you like, but that doesn't mean I won't delete it. Afterall, it is my blog. :)
So my friend Sarah asked me why I like Sarah Palin. Here are a few direct quotes from her speech last night that answer that question.
"I was just your average hockey mom, and signed up for the PTA because I wanted to make my kids' public education better."
"I might add that in small towns, we don't quite know what to make of a candidate who lavishes praise on working people when they are listening, and then talks about how bitterly they cling to their religion and guns when those people aren't listening."
"And I've learned quickly, these past few days, that if you're not a member in good standing of the Washington elite, then some in the media consider a candidate unqualified for that reason alone. But here's a little news flash for all those reporters and commentators: I'm not going to Washington to seek their good opinion - I'm going to Washington to serve the people of this country."
"To confront the threat that Iran might seek to cut off nearly a fifth of world energy supplies ... or that terrorists might strike again at the Abqaiq facility in Saudi Arabia ... or that Venezuela might shut off its oil deliveries ... we Americans need to produce more of our own oil and gas. And take it from a gal who knows the North Slope of Alaska: we've got lots of both. Our opponents say, again and again, that drilling will not solve all of America's energy problems - as if we all didn't know that already. But the fact that drilling won't solve every problem is no excuse to do nothing at all."
"But when the cloud of rhetoric has passed ... when the roar of the crowd fades away ... when the stadium lights go out, and those Styrofoam Greek columns are hauled back to some studio lot - what exactly is our opponent's plan? What does he actually seek to accomplish, after he's done turning back the waters and healing the planet?"
"Victory in Iraq is finally in sight ... he wants to forfeit. Terrorist states are seeking nuclear weapons without delay ... he wants to meet them without preconditions. Al Qaeda terrorists still plot to inflict catastrophic harm on America ... he's worried that someone won't read them their rights."
Those are just a few of the things she said that stuck out to me, but the whole stinkin' thing was fantastic.
I also find it funny (weird, not ha ha funny) that the day after her speech, I have never heard (or rather,read) so much uproar from liberal bloggers and my liberal friends--mostly indirectly to me through their Facebook status or posted items. Hmmmm...touched a nerve perhaps? I personally don't recall being that fired up last week after the DNC, but that's probably because I didn't really watch. Yes, I know what was said--the same old stuff. I read it in the paper the next day. But Palin must have convicted a lot of people with her new, fresh perspective. As someone who was pretty lukewarm about John McCain, I would have to agree with the democrats on one thing--change is kind of nice. :)
About Me
- Jennifer
- Nashville, TN, United States
- A single gal pushin' 30, I love my life, my family, my friends and most importantly, my Lord. I am a music snob who spends too much money on concerts. I'm addicted to Hollywood gossip. I have the coolest friends on the planet. I have a weakness for babies and puppies. I love pasta and ice cream. Exercise bores me to no end. I went to UT and bleed orange. Like a guy, I'll scream at the TV during football games--unlike a guy, I'm over it about 20 minutes after it's over. I'm a republican. I have an opinion on just about everything and more pet peeves than one person should actually have. This is me. I'm a hoot. Welcome.
8 comments:
I'm really surprised about your insinuation that you will delete comments. Not a very grown-up thing to do.
There are a lot of conservatives in my family - not all, but many are. I was able to have some good, productive discussions with 2 of them this weekend. I have never been opposed to discussing politics with friends and family who disagree with me, as long as it's done respectfully and not censored.
I asked what you liked about Sarah Palin out of curiosity, hoping that we could have a rational discussion about the issues in this Presidential election. But I see that is not going to happen here. So never mind.
How is what I said not rational? You asked a question and since I thoroughly enjoyed her speech last night, I used direct quotes to answer it. I loved every word that came out of her mouth. It wasn't meant as an attack.
I said I would delete comments because I didn't want any sort of hatefulness like my cousin had read earlier today, and quoted in her blog--that's why I linked her name. I'm offended you would think I would delete something that I simply disagreed with and then insinuate that I'm being childish.
Obviously, you don't know me that well then.
I clicked through to her blog, but did not read it closely. Just saw that she had made a political post. What a horrible comment made by that person! Wow...I am appalled. I see why she deleted it.
I did not connect your comment about deleting with her blog since I hadn't seen the comment. When I saw your comment about deleting, I then remembered your posting some anti-Obama propaganda on your myspace and disabling comments. Remembering your unwillingness to be open to other viewpoints then, and since your blog was essentially a response to my question, I assumed the deleting comment was directed at me. I apologize for that. I hope you can understand why I thought that, though.
I do not think you are childish, but if you had really intended to delete a comment by me (as I thought was the case), then yes, that would have been a childish action.
I guess I was hoping for more than just cutting and pasting when I asked what you liked about her, not quotes from a speech written by Mike Scully that had just happened the night before when your original post about liking her happened at this point almost a week ago.
Her speech had a very high number of sarcastic jabs at Barack Obama, the worst of which was belittling community organizers. That was an insult to many people on both sides.
She does not share my political leanings, which is to be expected - she's a Republican. Yes, I care about education, but I also care about human rights and the environment. I thought the whining about the media was pretty naive.
But what really worries me is all of the shadiness that has come out about. I could write about all of them here, but here's just one example. How is theirs the ticket for "change" if she is going to abuse her power just like Cheney and the rest of the Bush administration have done?
Since a few of your quotes insinuated that Obama doesn't have a plan, you can read about his plans here. I've always thought those types of comments were baseless.
I think many Democrats got complacent about McCain being the Republican nom because, in some ways, a "true" Republican wasn't running. But yes, many have spoken out lately considering someone who differs so much with Democrats and moderate and liberal views has been nominated. I definitely had a "well, at least Bush won't be President anymore" attitude about it all, but it's changed some in the last few months.
I would be so happy if a female ended up as a Vice President, but would be embarrassed if this particular one got in there and abused her power as she has done before. I'd hate for the first female VP to be associated with corruption, and that is a very real possibility in this case.
Also, I am curious what you think about this article about falsehoods told by her and others: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080904/ap_on_el_pr/cvn_fact_check
Attacks, praise stretch truth at GOP convention
By JIM KUHNHENN, Associated Press Writer
ST. PAUL, Minn. - Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and her Republican supporters held back little Wednesday as they issued dismissive attacks on Barack Obama and flattering praise on her credentials to be vice president. In some cases, the reproach and the praise stretched the truth.
Some examples:
PALIN: "I have protected the taxpayers by vetoing wasteful spending ... and championed reform to end the abuses of earmark spending by Congress. I told the Congress 'thanks but no thanks' for that Bridge to Nowhere."
THE FACTS: As mayor of Wasilla, Palin hired a lobbyist and traveled to Washington annually to support earmarks for the town totaling $27 million. In her two years as governor, Alaska has requested nearly $750 million in special federal spending, by far the largest per-capita request in the nation. While Palin notes she rejected plans to build a $398 million bridge from Ketchikan to an island with 50 residents and an airport, that opposition came only after the plan was ridiculed nationally as a "bridge to nowhere."
PALIN: "There is much to like and admire about our opponent. But listening to him speak, it's easy to forget that this is a man who has authored two memoirs but not a single major law or reform — not even in the state senate."
THE FACTS: Compared to McCain and his two decades in the Senate, Obama does have a more meager record. But he has worked with Republicans to pass legislation that expanded efforts to intercept illegal shipments of weapons of mass destruction and to help destroy conventional weapons stockpiles. The legislation became law last year. To demean that accomplishment would be to also demean the work of Republican Sen. Richard Lugar of Indiana, a respected foreign policy voice in the Senate. In Illinois, he was the leader on two big, contentious measures in Illinois: studying racial profiling by police and requiring recordings of interrogations in potential death penalty cases. He also successfully co-sponsored major ethics reform legislation.
PALIN: "The Democratic nominee for president supports plans to raise income taxes, raise payroll taxes, raise investment income taxes, raise the death tax, raise business taxes, and increase the tax burden on the American people by hundreds of billions of dollars."
THE FACTS: The Tax Policy Center, a think tank run jointly by the Brookings Institution and the Urban Institute, concluded that Obama's plan would increase after-tax income for middle-income taxpayers by about 5 percent by 2012, or nearly $2,200 annually. McCain's plan, which cuts taxes across all income levels, would raise after tax-income for middle-income taxpayers by 3 percent, the center concluded.
Obama would provide $80 billion in tax breaks, mainly for poor workers and the elderly, including tripling the Earned Income Tax Credit for minimum-wage workers and higher credits for larger families.
He also would raise income taxes, capital gains and dividend taxes on the wealthiest. He would raise payroll taxes on taxpayers with incomes above $250,000, and he would raise corporate taxes. Small businesses that make more than $250,000 a year would see taxes rise.
MCCAIN: "She's been governor of our largest state, in charge of 20 percent of America's energy supply ... She's responsible for 20 percent of the nation's energy supply. I'm entertained by the comparison and I hope we can keep making that comparison that running a political campaign is somehow comparable to being the executive of the largest state in America," he said in an interview with ABC News' Charles Gibson.
THE FACTS: McCain's phrasing exaggerates both claims. Palin is governor of a state that ranks second nationally in crude oil production, but she's no more "responsible" for that resource than President Bush was when he was governor of Texas, another oil-producing state. In fact, her primary power is the ability to tax oil, which she did in concert with the Alaska Legislature. And where Alaska is the largest state in America, McCain could as easily have called it the 47th largest state — by population.
MCCAIN: "She's the commander of the Alaska National Guard. ... She has been in charge, and she has had national security as one of her primary responsibilities," he said on ABC.
THE FACTS: While governors are in charge of their state guard units, that authority ends whenever those units are called to actual military service. When guard units are deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan, for example, they assume those duties under "federal status," which means they report to the Defense Department, not their governors. Alaska's national guard units have a total of about 4,200 personnel, among the smallest of state guard organizations.
FORMER ARKANSAS GOV. MIKE HUCKABEE: Palin "got more votes running for mayor of Wasilla, Alaska than Joe Biden got running for president of the United States."
THE FACTS: A whopper. Palin got 616 votes in the 1996 mayor's election, and got 909 in her 1999 re-election race, for a total of 1,525. Biden dropped out of the race after the Iowa caucuses, but he still got 76,165 votes in 23 states and the District of Columbia where he was on the ballot during the 2008 presidential primaries.
FORMER MASSACHUSETTS GOV. MITT ROMNEY: "We need change, all right — change from a liberal Washington to a conservative Washington! We have a prescription for every American who wants change in Washington — throw out the big-government liberals, and elect John McCain and Sarah Palin."
THE FACTS: A Back-to-the-Future moment. George W. Bush, a conservative Republican, has been president for nearly eight years. And until last year, Republicans controlled Congress. Only since January 2007 have Democrats have been in charge of the House and Senate.
___
Associated Press Writer Jim Drinkard in Washington contributed to this report.
Great job Jen. And just to add a little banter to your current comments, the reason that Republicans knock Obama for being inexperienced is because he is inexperienced. The fact that he has co-sponsored a few bills in Congress that may or may not have been helpful hardly makes him prepared for the presidency. And no, I am not bashing Obama on a personal note, and I think it is childish and unproductive to do so. But simply stated, and all political leanings aside, he is just not ready to be the Chief Executive of this country. I guess since I've been practicing law for four years now, I'm ready for the Supreme Court. Give me a break. Rudy was right -- you've got two resumes in front of you. Look long and hard folks and ask yourselves -- really...at the end of the day...who would you hire?
I think most people would agree that "legislation that expanded efforts to intercept illegal shipments of weapons of mass destruction and to help destroy conventional weapons stockpiles" is helpful legislation.
I don't just vote based on who's been in politics longer. Is it one aspect? Yes. But I also look at all of the issues and think about whose plans best reflect what I think should be done. Intelligence is also a consideration for me. Barack was President of the Harvard Law Review - I think most would agree that he's highly intelligent, and thus far has surrounded himself with a great team of advisers, not Washington lobbyists.
Lincoln, JFK, and Reagan were all considered inexperienced. Single-issue voting doesn't work for me.
Anyway Jen...............who is this Sarah?????
Your favorite Aunt
I don't vote based solely on who has been in politics longer either, and my comment did not state or even suggest that. But some people have so little experience that their lack of experience becomes a dealbreaker. Barack Obama is one such newbie.
Post a Comment